Naming hero's and heroines (writing romance)?

So are there any particular rules that you need to follow when naming your characters... for example I just realised my two leads have names that have the same amount of letters. And it sucks. Naming Characters, for me.... just sucks!

Anyway they are called...

Nora (which is the shortened version of her name which is Eleanor but I had intended for the other characters to call her Nora!) - the female protagonist's name.

Cash - the dudes name she will eventually hook up with.

I also have two other characters called Loretta and Merritt. Would the double "tt" in both names be an issue? It bugs the hell out of me, yet I love the names... thats why I'm asking lol

Also, any useful blogs or sites you could point me to that would help with naming conventions would be greatly appreciated.

I know, the names just didn't look or sound right to me. The "t" sounds in both names had me conflicted. I also have an issue with names ending with the same sound: Amelia vs Claudia for example. It bugs me to no end, especially when these char's must spend a great deal of page time together.

I'm just frustrated that I spent ages researching names, and finding ones that "fit" the characters including surnames etc, only to find when i look at all of them together they end up clashing in the way I mentioned above. I guess thats why I came here, to try and figure out how much of an issue it really is. (I will spend far too long fixating and wondering about this otherwise!)

don't let indecision stop you from writing the story/novel... use whatever names you want as 'place-holders' and you can change them later with a few clicks of your mouse... the main thing is to get to the end of the story...

I usually use the first or last names of family members or friends of mine. I also have a name book that i look through also i don't have any specific rules when it comes to naming characters i just make sure that the name makes sense.

I just go to Google and type in what I want the name to represent - say I want a sexy name - I type in sexy names or pretty or charming or intellectual or unusual or literary. Their's tons of baby lists and baby name sites out there. You don't need just one. Just a vague idea about what you want.

One thing that I always look to is the meaning of the name. One thing that I did that has really helped with my character naming was going out and buying an old baby names book. I have one from the 70s or 80s and it has a lot of really uncommon names in it that I love, along with their meanings. So when I have a character that, for example, has a connection to water, I will look up names that mean something involving water.

I also try to not go into stories knowing the characters names. I develop their personalities and what actions they taken in the plot, and then I name then depending on whatever name I feel fits them the best. Which is hard sometimes when I have names that I really love.

I also try and make sure that I name them appropriately so that their name fits their age, race, parents, and setting for the story. I really hate it when writers will just pick a cool name that they like and slap it on their characters, ignoring who, when, and where they are.

Yeah, I like my names to fit my characters. I actually enjoy searching through baby name books and trolling the interwebs for inspiration on names: from history or even inanimate objects. That part for me is the easy and fun part.

My problem is once I have found those names, some of them clash - again going back to them sounding too alike another, starting with the same letter, having the same amount of letters, ending with the same sound...

I find then the process becomes limiting, and tiresome even. Thats when I just kind of want to do something else...